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Monday, February 14, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Where It All Started

This probably should have been one of my first "Tombstone Tuesday" posts. Adam and Jadwiga Tabor are the ancestors that first got me into genealogy. When I was using my trial membership on Ancestry.com 10+ years ago their names were the first I entered. I figured with a name like Jadwiga it would be an easy find. It was and I remember sitting there in our apartment in Honolulu staring at the computer screen and I couldn't believe I had actually found something. I ran into the other room to rave about it to my husband and I...was...HOOKED!

Adam and Jadwiga Tabor with Clarence and Aldona Tabor

I've since realized that just because someone has a name that I think is unusual, like Jadwiga, doesn't mean it actually is unusual. Genealogy is a constant learning curve, but I like that. It keeps you on your toes. You can learn so much just by going back to the same information and reviewing it days, weeks, months or years later. A clear head and fresh set of eyes.

Anyway, Adam and Jadwiga are my paternal great-grandparents. I never met them and really never heard much about them at all until I started researching. They are buried in the Lithuanian National Cemetery in Chinchila, Pennsylvania. It took me years to find the cemetery. My father didn't know where they were buried and I couldn't find the cemetery when I searched. I had information from their death certificates, but I couldn't seem to find it. I was searching long distance so it was mainly through emails and internet searching that I finally came across the address for the cemetery. It's on a winding back road and if you blink, you miss it. It's a rather small cemetery. I made sure to not the grid coordinates when I found it though!

A little memorial today to the two who started it all! Rest in peace Adam and Jadwiga!